New Year's in Chicago: A Lorien Legacies Holiday
by ellakastner
Summary: It's New Year's Eve in Chicago, and the Garde are gearing up for the night of a lifetime. It's the only night they feel they can have fun and not be suspicious, and they take advantage of the opportunity to relax and have a good time. Follow the adventures of Ella, Adam, John, Marina, and the other Garde as they count down the minutes to the New Year!
1. Chapter 1: Ella

**ELLA**

 **TIME UNTIL NEW YEAR'S- 3 HOURS**

"Ella I swear if you have another pair of 2018 glasses I'm going to snap them in half and throw them out the window."

"Like you would actually have enough strength to do that," I say while walking through the living room door, purposefully bumping Sam's shoulder with mine. "I'm surprised you even made that threat. It seems like it would be hard for you to carry through."

"I feel like you keep forgetting I have telekinesis, just like you," he laughs, and floats my third pair of glasses off my head, and puts them on his head. Once he does that, I take a step back and look at our decorating job so far.

The walls are lined with leftover ribbons from Christmas and streamers we bought at a party store down the street. There's over fifty poppers lying on the living room table, and I'm positive at least another 100 are in the kitchen. Pointy hats line the television stand, along with headbands. Gold, black, and white balloons flood the rooms, some spelling out "NYE 2018" while others just stood around, their only purpose to fill up room with festivity. Sam found - and fixed - an old colorful disco ball that Nine had in one of his storage rooms, and we managed to hang it on the ceiling, where it currently is spinning. Shiny wrapping paper covers the windows and strands of silver ribbons hang from the doorways, creating a New Year's look I'll never forget.

"I think we need more," I declare, looking at Sam.

"I think we bought out the party store with our last trip," he says back, laughing a bit.

"If we did this room would be much more festive than it is now." I turn around. "I'm going to go dig upstairs to try to find some more stuff."

"You do that," Sam says, already working on putting up more streamers.

I jog up the stairs and make my way to the room Sam said he found the disco ball in. When I walk, I flip the light switch, and when the room illuminates I see that Nine wasn't joking when he said Sandor liked to spend cash - not that I had doubted it before, considering the apartment and training room. The room was full of vases, paintings, instruments, and more. I immediately walk over to a piano, which looks like it's had better days. My heart melts when I lay my hands on it. It's been so long since I last played. Crayton taught me in our free time of laying low, and would show me his favorite songs to play. He was an incredible teacher - an incredible papa. I wish he was still here.

I turn away from the piano and the memories and look around for decorations. I'm about to head out to check another room when something catches my eye - a giant silver chandelier that's almost as tall as I am. I gasp when I see it, as it sparkles just the way I feel like New Year's should. I lift it with my telekinesis and start my way down the stairs.

"I'm going to head out to grab more-" Sam starts to yell, before seeing me and my found item. "Wow," he finally says, and turns completely towards me, no longer facing the door. "How did I miss that!"

"Who knows, but if it makes you feel better I almost missed it too. Must've been all the random crap Nine keeps in that room that distracted us," I tell him. "Either that or maybe you do need those ugly glasses."

"Hey!" He says, and we laugh. He throws his coat back onto the couch and helps my float the chandelier around the room.

"So," he starts. "Where do we put it?"

"I, uh," I begin. "I have no clue." We keep it in the air for a while, looking around the room for a place to hang it. "What if we…" I start to ask, but drift off. There's literally no place for this. Maybe that's why it was in the storage room.

"We could maybe hang it in the doorway to the kitchen? We could just go around."

"I have a feeling if any of you get wasted tonight, which probably will happen, that chandelier will not last there," I say, and Sam nods his head.

"True, but we can at least leave it there for now, can't we?"

"We have nowhere else to put it, so I don't see why not." We hang it in the doorway, then step back to take a look at it. It almost touches the ground, but leaves enough room for Bernie Kosar to trot in, which he does promptly. Sam pets him, and Bernie walks away, as if that was the only reason of coming in here.

"So. We have balloons, streamers, poppers, hats, ribbons, a disco ball, and a chandelier. Anything else?"

"I don't think so," I say, "but it can't hurt to use up what's left of what we bought, right?"

Sam obnoxiously groans, but cracks a grin right after. "I guess so." We start working on what's left in the bag - two rolls of streamers, four doorway coverings, and three packs of balloons. I grab a pack of balloons and Sam grabs the streamers. I grab the television remote and turn up the music, and I'm about to blow up some balloons when I hear a voice.

"Um, what's going on?"

Sam and I slowly turn to see Six standing in the doorway. He instantly turns red and starts to stutter.

"Oh, uh, hi Six, umm, well, you weren't supposed to, um, see this yet," he stumbles, as if we were caught doing something we shouldn't be.

"It's fine," she laughs, and smiles at us. "Can I help?"

"Totally!" I say, and throw her a pack of balloons. She walks in, turns the music up even louder, and we all start finishing the last touches for the perfect New Year's.


	2. Chapter 2: Adam

**ADAM**

 **TIME UNTIL NEW YEAR'S- 2 HOURS**

I step out of the store and exhale a breath I didn't know I was holding. There was so many people in there, and I know I'm technically not even the species being attacked and murdered, but wow. It was very stressful to be in such a crowded place. But thankfully, I managed to get everything that was on the list Ella sent me. Hot dogs, burgers, veggie burgers (apparently Eight is a vegetarian and Ella didn't want him to feel left out), French fries, fruit salad, cookies, and five different kinds of ice cream. Before going to the store, I thought there was only three different kinds - vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.

So when Ella said she wanted cookie dough, double chocolate, cookies and cream, apple pie, and mango sorbet, I was completely confused.

But I found them after weaving my way through what felt like thousands of people, and now I'm walking home. Well, I'm walking to Nine's penthouse, which isn't exactly home, but it's as close as I'll probably get for a while. The penthouse is only a few blocks from where I am now, so it shouldn't take me long to make my way back. I start walking, following the sidewalk which looks eerily yellow from the streetlights. I pull out my phone and check the time. 10:03 P.M.. It's not too late. I should be fine. I need to stop worrying.

Ever since the incident with Number Three in Kenya, I've had this paranoia about walking in the dark. I know that what happened there wouldn't happen here, especially on New Year's Eve when I'm walking back from a grocery store with party foods, but I can't help myself from worrying. It's not until I walk past a bar when I start to relax. Not because of the opportunity to drink, but because the bar is only two blocks from the John Hancock Center. I slow down and try to loosen up some - I have no reason to worry. I look inside the bar to see how crowded it is since it's New Year's Eve. There's a lot of people, and I'm about to turn around and continue home when I hear a shout. "YOU DON'T THINK I CAN TAKE ANOTHER SHOT? IS THAT A CHALLENGE JOHNNY-BOY? I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!"

Oh gosh. Of course Nine is already drunk at 10 on New Year's. I kind of expected it. Actually, if he didn't get drunk tonight, I probably would've been worried. I hear cheering in the bar, and Nine clumsily climbing up onto the counter of the bar, in plain sight in the bar and outside the bar. They must be really confident that there are no Mogadorians nearby. It's a good thing I'm on their side or else this could end very badly.

Well, it's probably going to end badly anyways based on what I'm seeing, but that was their choice.

"WHO THINKS I CAN DRINK ANOTHER SHOT!" I hear Nine shout from the counter, then a mob of cheers. I want to turn around and walk home, but I kind of want to see how this ends up. At that point I've pulled out my phone and have started recording. I'm sure that Nine will love to see this tomorrow morning, when he's at least somewhat sober.

Nine picks up a shot from next to his foot, and immediately downs it. He then turns around, and falls into the crowd that had formed around him. They lift him up, chanting "Stanley, Stanley, Stanley," before placing him back onto the ground. This entire time, I haven't seen Four, but I assume he's probably too drunk to function. I have a feeling Nine can hold his alcohol better than Four. I stop the recording and finally make my way back to the John Hancock Center. It only takes a few minutes to get there, and once I get in I wave to the receptionist, then make my way up the elevator. It dings, and I walk in.

"Adam's back!" I hear Sam shout from the kitchen. "We were starting to worry about you."

"You shouldn't be worried about me," I start, not being able to contain my laughter while pulling out my phone. Six and Ella are now in the room and come closer to see. "You should be worried about Nine," I finish, while pressing play on the video.


	3. Chapter 3: John

**JOHN**

 **TIME UNTIL NEW YEAR'S- 1.5 HOURS**

"Stanley, I think it's time to go home."

"YOU AREN'T MY GRANDMOTHER, YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Nine slurrily yells back at me, swaying side to side.

"What would you Cêpan want you to do?" I say, and immediately want to take it back. From the stories I've heard, I have a feeling Sandor would've been just as drunk as Nine right now, probably trying to pick up girls.

"SANDOR," Nine pauses, stretching out the r, "WOULD'VE WANTED ME TO DRINK UNTIL I THROW UP!"

"Okay, maybe that's true, but is it the right decision?"

"DUH! OF COURSE IT IS!" He shouts. I roll my eyes and he tries to push by me to try to get back to the bar.

"Woah, woah, woah, no more drinks for you," I say, trying to get through to him.

"BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, THAT'S ALL I HEAR FROM YOU JOHNNY-BOY! RULES, SHMULES, IT'S ALL YOU CARE ABOUT," he rants. "LOOSEN UP!" Nine still hasn't lowered his voice, and it's starting to get on my nerves.

"We need to leave," I say sternly.

"NO WE DON'T!"

"Nin- Stanley," I correct myself, "you shouldn't be here. You're obviously very drunk, and we need to get you home."

"DON'T BE A _QUITTER_!" He continues to yell.

"I'M NOT! YOU ARE JUST BEING STUPID AND I'M TRYING TO NOT GET YOU KILLED!" I finally yell at him, as he's broken my patience. I look back at his face, and he looks furious. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just worried that we will get caught," I say in his ear quietly.

"Excuses, excuses," Nine slurs out, but he finally brought down his voice.

"Do you really want to get thrown into a Mog base again because you got drunk on New Year's and didn't go home?" I ask.

Nine's eyes widen, as if this is the first time he's thought about that. Which it probably is. "No, no-no-no-no-no," he says quickly. "Please don't make me go back there. Johnny-boy, please," he says, grabbing onto my arms and shaking me a little. I decide to use this as a threat, which I didn't intend to do in the beginning, but he really needs to go home.

"I won't make you go back," I start, and he relaxes. "On one condition."

"What is it, I'll do anything," he says, his eyes drunkenly looking all over my face.

"If you go home without yelling at me, I won't make you go back to the base."

"Okay Johnny-boy, if that's what it takes," he says, and smiles before falling forward some. I catch him and laugh.

"I'll go pay, then let's get you out of here."

"Okay Johnny-boy."

"Please stop calling me that," I say laughing.

"Johnny-boy, don't be like that, it's your name," he says, overly nodding, as if he's convinced himself that's actually my name.

"Whatever you say, Stanley, whatever you say."

I walk up to the bar, and the bartender gives me the bill. "Finally getting this party animal out of here?" He laughs.

"I think we're done here," I say back, also laughing. I give him the cash and tip him pretty heavily. "Thanks for working tonight. I'm sure it must suck having to put up with people like this one all night," I say, pointing to Nine, who's still leaning on me.

"Eh, I get paid, so it's okay. Thank you though, it really means a lot to me," he says back, and gives me a receipt. "Just try to get him home as soon as possible, I'm sure he needs it."

"Will do. Have a good night," I say, starting to walk away.

"Thanks, you too." I walk away and make my way to the exit of the bar. Once we make it outside, I turn and say to Nine, "Come on bud. Time to go home."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting there," he mumbles, leaning on me more. "I'm getting tired."

"Only two blocks, you can do it."

"Yeah, two blocks. Almost there?"

"Yeah Nine, almost there."

"Thanks Johnny-boy." We walk in silence after that, Nine slowly leaning more and more on me. I feel as if he's about to fall over by the time we get back to the John Hancock Center.

"Home?" He asks.

"Yes Stanley, we're home." I walk him over to the elevator, and we make our way up to the penthouse.

"Thank God. I'm never drinking this much again," he says.

"Good. There's a good chance the next time you do drink this much, I won't take care of you."

"Figured."

The elevator door dings open, and I practically drag Nine into the penthouse.

"Rough night?" I hear Six ask as I walk by the living room.

"Yeah. You should've seen him. He was nuts."

"Oh, I saw him all right," Six laughs. "Adam was kind enough to record some of what happened when he was walking home from the store. Said anyone within a mile radius would've been able to hear or see him," she continues, unable to control her laughter. It's been a while since I've seen Six so happy.

"It was hilarious!" Adam yells from the living room. "I didn't know he had a pet name for you, _Johnny-boy!_ "

"He doesn't, he's just way too drunk," I yell back, trying to cover up.

"We should probably get him some water," Six says, helping me pick Nine up and bring him to the kitchen. We sit him down in a chair, get him a glass of water, and leave him alone. I walk into the living room to see it's beautifully decorated.

"What do you think?" Ella says excitedly.

"It's great, good job El," I say, giving her a pat on the back.

"I helped," I hear Sam yell from across the room.

"He actually did. A lot," Ella added smiling. I look up at the television. A New Year's Eve special is playing, counting down the minutes until the New Year. It says there's forty-nine minutes left.

Forty-nine minutes until one more year that we've survived.

Adam walks in with bowls and a variety of boxes, breaking me away from my thoughts.

"Ice cream, anyone?"


	4. Chapter 4: Marina

**MARINA**

 **TIME UNTIL NEW YEAR'S- 0.5 HOURS**

"To another year."

"To another year," I say back, smiling. Eight clicks his glass with mine, and though it's only sparkling cider - the waitress knew we were underage because of Eight's boyish face, but I didn't mind, I want to remember tonight as well as possible - it makes me feel bubbly inside. I can't keep the smile off my face, and it feels like I'm floating. I take another look around the restaurant Eight chose. Dark blue and gold balloons fill the tall ceiling, making the spacious room seem extremely big, and all the tables are full with sparkly drinks (with people in sparkly outfits drinking them). The tables around the dining room are full of loose sequins, and the lengthy walls are draped with silver and black streamers.

It's beautiful.

The waitress walks up to us and says, "Any dessert this evening?" I look at Eight.

"Whatever you want Marina, I don't mind." He cracks his signature smile.

"Ella texted me a little while ago saying Adam brought home desserts, should we have those instead?" I ask, hoping he's okay with it. I would love to be home with the Garde for when the clock strikes midnight.

"Sounds fine to me," he agrees.

"In that case, I guess we're all set!" I say happily to the waitress.

"I'll bring the check over soon," she says, then walks off.

"Thank you for choosing this place," I say to Eight, once the waitress is gone.

"I heard such great reviews about this, I couldn't wait to take you," he says, blushing a bit.

"It's gorgeous," I exclaim, looking at the balloons again.

"Yeah," he says, raising his eyes to the ceiling, then looking back down at me. "I'm glad we got to do this tonight."

"I am too," I say, blushing. "It's nice to get out of the penthouse, just you and I."

"Yeah, we haven't done that much, have we?"

"No, but this totally makes up for it," I gush. The waitress walks up and leaves the check on the table. I reach for my wallet but Eight grabs my hand.

"No, this is on me," he says, grinning ear to ear.

"Are you sure?"

"Completely sure. It's my treat," he reassured, and put down the amount we owed. He then stood up, and took my hand. I stood up too, feeling my face burn up, and we left the restaurant. Thankfully, the restaurant Eight chose was only a few blocks from the John Hancock Center, making the walk short. I took out my phone to check the time. 11:43. We should be able to get back to the penthouse with almost fifteen minutes left before the New Year.

I start to shiver in the coldness and Eight puts his arm around me. "Cold?"

"A little," I tell him, and he pulls me closer. We finish our walk to the penthouse in silence, happy with each other's company. We walk in and Eight waves to the receptionist, and we make our way up to the penthouse. Once the doors close, Eight turns towards me.

"I'm glad we got to go out," he says. "I missed being able to hang out just you and me. Not that the other Garde are bad to be around, it's just different when we're alone."

"Me too, it was really fun with just the two of us. Thanks again for dinner," I added.

"Of course. Anything for you, my love."

The doors of the elevator open, and I see Ella run into the room. "You're back just in time!" She exclaims, and gives me a hug. "Eight doesn't have any lipstick on his face… waiting till the New Year I see?" She whispers in my ear.

"Ella!" I laugh.

"Just asking!" She says back, giggling some. "Just wait till I fill you two in about what happened with the other Garde tonight," she said, dragging me into the living room. I look behind me to see Eight jogging to keep up with us, and I give him a smile before looking back in front of me. My mouth gapes open as I look at what Ella did to the living room. Balloons flood the room, streamers hang from the ceilings, and ribbons line the doorways and walls. It's as if I took a part of the restaurant home with us.

"Ella!" I gasp. "This is amazing!"

"Thank you, but I had some help."

"I was the help!" I hear Sam yell from the couches, where he and Six are snuggled up watching the TV.

"You guys did a great job," I say, amazed by the decorations.

"Yeah, totally beats anything I could try to pull off," Eight adds from behind, and then subtly places his arm around my waist. Ella runs off to talk to Adam, and I look up at Eight.

"I have to say," Eight says, looking around, "this is one of the best nights I've had on Earth for a while, if not ever." I'm about to respond when Ella comes running back with Adam's phone.

"You guys have to watch this. Nine got totally wasted and Adam walked by the bar he was in on the way back from the store and recorded it from outside," Ella says hurriedly. "It's gold!"

She presses play and Eight and I find ourselves watching Nine on a bar counter, asking who thinks he can drink another shot. When we hear the amount of cheers afterwards, both Eight and I burst out laughing, and we continue watching the video. Adam only got a minute or two, but what he got was hilarious. I'm about to ask if he's home when Nine walks sullenly out of the kitchen. "Remind me to never, and I mean NEVER, drink that much again," he groans, holding his head in one hand and a glass of water in the other. Eight laughs and pulls me closer. "Want to get some ice cream before the ball drops?" He whispers in my ear.

"Sure," I whisper back. "I'll be right over." Eight breaks away from me to go to the ice cream bar Ella set up, and I walk over to Sam and Six.

"Sammy, move over and make some room for the only couple in this penthouse I don't entirely hate," Six says, and I laugh.

"Thanks, I guess. But you don't have to do that. I was just going to ask where Sam found the disco ball. It's sweet!" I say, trying to switch the topic as quickly as possible.

"I found it in one of Nine's many storage rooms. It was busted, but somehow I managed to fix it up," Sam says enthusiastically. I go to respond when he shouts, "Hey! There's only a few minutes till midnight! Everybody get over here!"

I turn around to find Eight carrying two bowls of ice cream over to me, and when he arrives he hands one to me. "Hope cookies and cream is okay," he says, and I laugh.

"Never had it, so we'll find out!" We walk over to the side of the couch and sit on the floor. I turn my attention to the television for a few seconds then look back at Eight.

"I'm so happy I got to spend New Year's Eve with you. I can't imagine a better person to be with tonight," I say, leaning into him.

"I'm happy too. It's been a while since someone has made me this happy Marina. I'm glad it's you who does." I look up at him and the rest of the Garde start counting down.

10…

9…

8…

"I love you Marina. I have, and I always will," Eight whispers in my ear, making my heart flutter.

6…

"I love you too. And from how I feel right now, I have a feeling I'm going to love you for a long time."

3…

2…

1…

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone shouts, and Eight pulls me close and kisses me.

And as we're kissing, I can't think of a better way to start my year.


End file.
